Swedish cars: oil free in 20 years

Sweden wants to stop using oil to power its cars by 2030 as part of a plan for the country to become completely oil free.

The announcement was made by the Swedish government earlier today as it showed the next stage in its plans to develop all of its energy requirements from alternative sources.

That’s a more relaxed timeframe for an oil-free economy from the original date of 2020, announced in 2006. Now the Swedish government wants its carbon emissions cut by 40 per cent by 2020.

By then half of the country’s energy will come from renewable sources, with many of its cars running on so-called “second-generation” ethanol produced from organic waste such as wood chippings and animal manure. Currently, 85 per cent of Saabs sold in Sweden run on ethanol.

Much of Sweden’s energy already comes from nuclear and renewable power, and domestic heating is supplied by geothermal heat or waste energy generated by industrial processes. But its transport network still relies on oil.

Last year the enterprise minister Maud Olofsson called for a total ban on petrol and diesel cars by 2025, leading to an angry reaction from Saab and Volvo.